It takes forty minutes to cycle from here to the city. I can't be late, but arriving too early isn't appropriate either.
After discussing it, the two went to the department store first and browsed around for a while.
It wasn't until almost 5:30 that we headed towards the Zhuo family's house.
The ten-minute journey was almost over when Zhouzhou, sitting in the back seat, suddenly tugged anxiously at Zhou Qiqi's clothes.
Zhou Qiqi quickly squeezed the brakes to stop it.
Looking in the direction Zhouzhou pointed, there was an old man with gray hair leaning against the wall by the roadside, one hand tightly clutching his chest, his face pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and he was panting heavily.
Zhouzhou jumped out of the car and ran over.
Zhou Qiqi quickly braced her bike and followed.
The old man spoke haltingly, his voice trembling: "My...angina...is acting up...my...pocket...medicine..."
Zhouzhou deftly reached into the old man's shirt pocket and pulled out a small medicine bottle.
Zhou Qiqi helped open the screw, poured out a few small nitroglycerin pills, and carefully fed them to the old man, letting him hold them under his tongue.
The old man closed his eyes, his brows furrowed. After a while, his rapid breathing subsided slightly, but his complexion remained grim, and his lips turned blue.
Seeing that he was alone, Zhou Qiqi asked, "Grandpa, where do you live? We'll take you home."
The old man weakly raised his hand and pointed in a direction: "No...not far...ahead...in the alley..."
"Hey, slow down, let us help you."
Zhou Qiqi and Zhouzhou carefully helped the old man up, one on each side.
The old man's feet felt unsteady, and he walked extremely slowly, panting heavily with every step.
It took almost fifteen minutes to walk that short distance to reach the old man's door.
Once inside, Zhou Qiqi helped the old man sit down in a chair to rest. She glanced at her watch and her heart skipped a beat—she was already late!
The old man's breathing became more even, and he struggled to get up to pour them water and get some candy for Zhouzhou.
Zhou Qiqi didn't care about any of that anymore and shouted across the room:
"Grandpa, please rest well! We have urgent business to attend to, so we'll be leaving now!"
Before he finished speaking, he grabbed Zhouzhou and rushed out the door.
And at this moment—
The Zhuo family's living room was brightly lit and decorated in a somewhat Western style.
A snow-white tablecloth was laid out on the long table, on which were placed exquisite cream cakes and various light snacks.
Almost all the guests had arrived, and they were exchanging pleasantries in twos and threes.
Only one woman, dressed in a tight-fitting crimson cheongsam and draped in a beige tassel shawl, had obvious impatience on her face.
Her makeup was exquisite, and her hair was styled in fashionable large curls, making her stand out among the group of women. Anyone who didn't know her would think she was the lady of the house.
She swayed as she walked to Zhuo's mother's side, her voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for those around to hear:
"Aunt Zhuo, haven't all the guests arrived yet? We've been waiting for quite a while. My Jiaojiao has been asking for cake two or three times already. Kids get hungry so quickly."
Behind her followed a little girl dressed like a doll, pouting and looking unhappy.
With a polite smile on her face, Zhuo's mother reassured her:
"Almost there, almost there. There's still Comrade Zhou here. His home is a bit far from the city, so it's normal for him to be delayed on the way. How about we let Jiaojiao have some chocolate to tide her over?"
She then called to her son, "Guangming, go get some chocolate for your sister."
Zhuo Guangming responded and was about to reach for it when the little girl named Jiaojiao turned away unhappily.
"No! I want to eat cake!"
Her mother, Chen's mother, playfully patted her on the shoulder:
"Jiaojiao, you mustn't be rude."
Despite saying that, there was no hint of blame in his eyes.
Just then, there was a rapid knocking on the door outside the courtyard.
Zhuo's mother hurried over to open the door, where Zhou Qiqi and Zhouzhou stood, slightly out of breath and with flushed cheeks.
"Aunt Zhuo, I'm so sorry, something urgent came up on the way and I was delayed!"
Zhou Qiqi looked apologetic.
She wasn't familiar with the area, so after leaving the old man's house, she spent a long time looking for her bicycle, and then painstakingly searched for the way she had come, finally finding it after a long search.
The old man's house was right next to the Zhuo family's.
But she kept pacing back and forth, and ended up being almost twenty minutes late.
"It's good that you're here, come in quickly!"
Zhuo's mother warmly ushered her into the house, and said with a smile to everyone,
"This is Comrade Zhou Qiqi, who runs a clothing business and is very skillful! Look, the little suit that our Guangming is wearing today was designed by Comrade Zhou."
All eyes turned to them.
Today, Zhou Qiqi wore a light gray woolen coat that she made herself, with a beige turtleneck sweater underneath, and dark trousers on the bottom. It was both elegant and appropriate without being too overpowering.
Zhouzhou wore a simple light yellow corduroy dress with a Peter Pan collar, which made her rosy cheeks look even more adorable.
"Wow, Comrade Zhou's cooking is really good!"
"Yes, Guangming looks really smart in that little suit!"
"Comrade Zhou looks good in this outfit too, neat and clean."
"Little girl, your dress is pretty too!"
The guests all smiled and praised it.
Zhou Qiqi smiled and nodded to everyone in greeting.
Only Chen's mother, after sizing Zhou Qiqi up and down a few times, curled her lips and spoke coolly:
"Oh, I thought he was some big shot. A person's status isn't something that can be elevated by wearing nice clothes. He's just a tailor from the countryside, yet so many of us are waiting for him."
The atmosphere immediately became somewhat tense after these words were spoken.
Zhuo's mother quickly tried to smooth things over:
"Comrade Chen, you're joking. Everyone has their own urgent matters. Alright, alright, everyone's here, the kids are getting impatient, let's cut the cake first!"
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